The generally received ideas of the state of Britain at the time of its invasion by the Romans, are almost exclusively derived from the statements of Julius Cæsar, but it should excite no surprise that many of them are erroneous, when it is remembered that Cæsar's stay here was but brief, and that but a very small part of the country fell under his own observation. His account is shortly, that the people on the coast where he landed much resembled the Gauls, though they had no coinage, but used instead brass or iron rings as money; and that the rest of the natives, who were reputed aborigines, were mere savages, clad in skins, and dyeing their bodies with woad, which gave them a terrible appearance; they had vast herds of cattle and lived on milk and flesh, not cultivating corn; they wore long hair, but no beards; and they dwelt together in parties of ten or twelve, who had wives in common c. Some of these statements are confirmed by Xiphilined and Herodian, when speaking of the unsubdued tribes in the time of Severus; but others are quite contrary to fact, as a great number of British coins exist, some of which are of gold, and bear an ear

• Diodorus makes no mention of this custom, which is perhaps to be regarded as a pure invention.

d Xiphiline was a Greek monk of the eleventh century, who has left an epitome of several of the lost books of the Roman History of Dio Cassius.

• Herodian lived about A.D. 250, and wrote a valuable History of his own times.

The opinion of the learned Editors of the Monumenta on this point is thus stated (p. cli.): "The French numismatists have claimed as Gallic the coins which are called British, though they have not made out any title to their appropriation. It has been broadly stated that the Britons were too barbarous to need a coinage; but if that were the case, surely the Gauls could have had just as little need of a metallic currency, as they were at that time little, if at all, more advanced in civilization than their British

of corn on the reverse, thus testifying both knowledge and esteem of agriculture, (see coins of Tasciovanus and Cunobelin, p. 19,) and Diodorus Siculus says, "They who dwell near the promontory of Britain which is called Belerium (now the Land's end,) are singularly fond of strangers, and from their intercourse with foreign merchants, civilized in their habits." Strabo too says, "The Cassiterides are inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad in tunics reaching to the feet, and girt about the breast, walking with staves, and bearded like goats." Cæsar describes the inland regions as producing tin, and the maritime, iron; but other writers more accurately tell us that tin was produced near the sea shore, that it was skilfully worked and fused by the natives, and by them conveyed in waggons in great abundance, to "a certain island named Ictis, lying off Britain; for a singular circumstance happens with respect to the neighbouring islands lying between Europe and Britain; for at the high tides, the intervening passage being flooded, neighbours. It is absurd to suppose that one only of two nations, so nearly allied to each other in religion and manners as were the Gauls and Britons, and carrying on together an extensive commerce, should have known the use of money. It may therefore be assumed, that if the Gauls had a metallic currency before the time of Julius Cæsar's invasion of this island, which to a certainty they had, so also had the Britons..... .It must be remembered that there are extant coins peculiar to this island; or rather, coins have been discovered here unlike any which are found in any other country, such as those, for instance, which have inscriptions on tablets. There is undoubtedly a great resemblance between some of the British and Gallic coins; both are thick and dished, and appear to have been rudely formed after the model of the Grecian coins.........Camden was the first who claimed and established a coinage for the inhabitants of his country; he has assigned about eighteen different types to Cunobelin, Boadicea, Caractacus, &c.; but there are as many as seventy-two other types still extant."

This term probably here includes the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, and is not, as in other cases, confined to the Scilly isles.

they seem islands; but at the low tides, the sea retreating and leaving much space dry, they appear peninsulas;" a statement which has led to the identification of Ictis with the Mount St. Michael, in Cornwall, of our own day. Besides tin, lead and skins are mentioned as exchanged with foreign merchants for earthenware, glass beads, salt, and brazen vessels. To British exports were afterwards added slaves and fierce hunting dogs, and in the fourth century, if not before, wheat in large quantity.

Tacitus informs us that the natives of Britain were of several distinct races, as evidenced by their differences of personal appearance. The height and the yellow locks of the people on the north-east coast shewed their German origin, while the shorter stature and swarthy complexion of those in the west rendered it probable that they were a colony from Iberia. To all, the praise of desperate valour is due; Cæsar acknowledges that their horsemen and charioteers contended vigorously with him; and to the last period of Roman occupation, there were numerous tribes that had never been subdued. Xiphiline describes the state of these about the close of the second century of the Christian era.

'The Mæatæ and Caledonians inhabit mountains wild and waterless, and plains desert and marshy, having neither walls nor cities nor tilth, but living by pasturage, by the chase, and on certain berries; for of their fish, though abundant and inexhaustible, they never taste. They live in tents naked and bare-footed, having wives in common, and rearing the whole of their progeny. Their state is chiefly democratical, and they

are above all things delighted by pillage; they fight from chariots, having small swift horses; they fight also on foot, are very fleet when running, and most resolute when compelled to stand; their arms consist of a shield and a short spear, having a brazen knob at the extremity of the shaft, that when shaken it may terrify the enemy by its noise; they use daggers also; they are capable of enduring hunger, thirst, and hardships of every description; for when plunged in the marshes they abide there many days with their heads only out of water; and in the woods they subsist on bark and roots; they prepare for all emergencies a certain kind of food, of which if they eat only so much as the size of a bean they neither hunger nor thirst. Such then is the island of Britannia, and such the inhabitants of that part of it which is hostile to us."

Herodian gives a very similar account, and adds, ‹ They encircle their loins and necks with iron, deeming this an ornament and mark of opulence, in like manner as other barbarians esteem gold. They puncture their bodies with pictured forms of every sort of animals, on which account they wear no clothing, lest they should hide the figures on their body."

The kingly form of government prevailed among the Britons before the coming of Cæsar, and it was continued long after, though in subordination to the Roman governors, but the most truly influential persons were the Druids. These men were the depositories of all the learning of the Britons, and they had numerous schools where they taught "many things respecting the stars and their motion, respecting the extent of the world and

of our earth, respecting the nature of things, respecting the power and the majesty of the immortal gods.” These doctrines were supposed to have originated in Britain, and in Cæsar's time those Gauls who wished to study them visited our island for the purpose.

But the Druids were not merely teachers; they imposed ordinances on all classes, and enforced them by terrible penalties; they were the arbiters of peace and war; they had sacred groves and rude stone temples, in which they offered human sacrifices; and so powerful was their influence over their countrymen, that the Romans disregarded their usual policy of leaving untouched the superstitions and priesthoods of conquered nations, and laboured zealously to destroy both the priests and the altars of Britain. Tacitus gives a lively account of the assault for this purpose on the stronghold of Druidism.

Suetonius"prepared to fall upon Mona (Anglesey h), a country powerful in inhabitants, and a common place of refuge to the revolters and fugitives; he built, for that end, boats with broad flat bottoms, the easier to approach a shore full of shallows and uncertain landings ; in these the foot were embarked; the horse followed, partly by fording, partly by swimming.

"On the opposite shore stood the enemy's army, in thick array compact with men and arms; amongst them were women running frantically every where, to and fro, representing the wild manner and transports of furies; dismally clad in funeral apparel, with their hair di

h The name Mona is often given to the Isle of Man, but it is certain that Anglesey is meant in this instance.